Tear Gas

There are several eye and nose irritants on the market which can be easliy duplicated. A good irritant is formaldehyde, better known as embalming fluid, it smells horrible and hurts the eyes and nose. It also vaporizes on contact with air to make a room uninhabitable for hours. It can be squirted from a water pistol or nasal inhaler, poured on the floor or vaporized by a bomb described in the stinkum file. Formaldehyde can be bought at the drug store under the pretext of wanting it to preserve mice or other lab specimens.

The irritant mailmen use against dogs and which is sold widely for self defense is oleoresid capsicum. Capsicum is hot essence of red peppers. Oleores-

In is the process for extracting it. To extract the capsicum, grind up four ounces of red pepper seeds in a blender or with a mortar and pestle. Red pepper seeds are bought at the grocer’s.

The dry, ground seeds are then put into a coffee percolator in which there is about 16 ounces of alcohol, preferably with the water distilled out. The seeds are then percolated for about a half hour. The alcohol is then distilled off until there are only a couple of table spoons of red liquid left in the flask. The red liquid is then added to a half pint of light mineral oil, bought at a drug store.

It can be sprayed from a nasal spray. Another good way is with a window cleaning sprayer bought at any dime store. The tube of the sprayer is cut to fit in a two ounce medicine bottle. This way you have enough of the chemical to last through a whole demonstration, no matter which side you’re on. It is also nice to keep by the door or by your computer to repel the feds.

Before using, the container should be given a few shakes. Under laboratory conditions all the oil is extracted from the seeds. But with my mickey mouse method a lot of oil is left in so the residue is quite potent. Just be sure you strain out any larger bits so the sprayer hole is not clogged.

The ground seeds left in the percolator are dried and saved. They are great for throwing into the faces of people in a mob. If you really want a laugh, throw some broadcast from a theater balcony during the death scene in “love story”. The goody called mace is probably only acrolein. If not, it works just as well

As mace and is simple and fun to produce. It is the same product as des- cribed on pages 104-106 of the anarchist cookbook. Mine however, is broken down and simplified.

Acrolein is not toxic but causes horrible pain in the nose and copious tears, and irritates the skin. A shot in the face from a water pistol or some other sprayer will put anyone out of the game for at least half an hour.

Acrolein is best made an ounce at a time. Put in the flask 2 122 ounces of glycerine and 344 ounce of sodium bisulfate (sani-flush), both of which can be bought at any grocery store. The still is set up with the outside tube connected as the fumes are bad. When the mixture starts to bubble it must be watched constantly to make sure it does not bubble up into the neck of the flask. If it starts for the neck of the flask, remove the lamp until it settles down. If the lamp is too hot, the tin can is raised on small blocks until the right heat is gotten.

Distill off an ounce of acrolein and take away the lamp. An ounce is all this size batch is good for. Let the flask cool for an hour before opening and cleaning. Pour the residue down the sink and put your face over the drain to get a sample of the vapor. Then cap the recieving bottle and wash everything the acrolein was in contact with. The best squirter for the three irritants above is a water pistol. Most water pistols leak badly so they must be transported barrel up so the chemical won’t ooze out around the trigger. It will leak when you use it so it is best to put in the plastic sandwhich bag with the opening held around the barrel with the rubberband. If the pistol has a trigger guard it should be cut off and then it can be used just as easily in a plastic bag as otherwise.

For usual carrying around, you can’t beat a nasal spray. The best ones can be screwed open so the chemical can be poured in. If not, you have to squeeze it and put its nozzle into the chemical. When the pressure is released the irritant will be sucked up. Such irritants are illegal to carry in some states. That’s one of the reasons the nasal spray is best. If you are search- ed and it is found, there is little chance it will be recognized for what it is. I don’t know what advice to give you if the cop has the sniffles and goes to use some of your goody.